Apparatus for washing spongy material



' p 1952 J. T. MARVIN ETAL 2,609,826

APPARATUS FOR WASHING SPONGY MATERIAL Original Filed March 5, 1948 2SHEETS-SHEET l Mm AIME/(76 P 9, 1952 J. 'r. MARVIN ETAL 2,609,826

APPARATUS FOR WASHING SPONGY MATERIAL Original Filed March 5, 1948 2SHEETS--SHEET 2 1 i 1 1 Li 5:? 2'

T KR IN 1 1 A M} A 1 Q A H 1 BET-r F: INVENTORAS- Jafm Z' Marvin 5501375H lfcfaaden mation and duringuse thereof.

Patented Sept. 9, 1952 UNITED STATE s PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FORWASHING SPONGY MATERIAL John '1. Marvin, Dayton, and George H. McFadden,Columbus, Ohio, assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to GeneralMotors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Original.application March 3.1.1948, Serial No. 12,706; Divided and this;application April 8, 1950, Serial No. 154,788 I This invention relatesto washing machines and is particularly directed to machines for washingspongy. resilient materials and the like.

This invention is a division of our copending application,.Serial No.12,706, filed'March 3', 1948,

.for a method for washing spongy material.

silient material is progressively washed at a series of stations forremoving solubleingredients therein- Further objects and advantages ofthe present invention willbe apparent from the followingdescriptionreference beinghad tojthe accompanying drawing, wherein.preferred embodiments of the present invention, are clearly shown.

In the drawing: Fig. 1,is aview in section of one type of washingapparatuswhich may .be used satisfactorily for washing spongy resilientmaterial.

Fig. 2 is a sectionltaken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a, partialsectional view of another design of apparatus.

Fig. 4 shows one type of securing means which .may .be used to locateand hold articles to the belt.

Fig.5i isa view showing other embodiments of the invention in crosssection.

Spongy, resilient material, as defined herein, may include resilientplastic sponges, sponge fromlatex foam, sponge from chemically blownrubber-like material, such as, natural rubber, reclaimed rubber andsynthetic rubber which may include butadieneestyrene co-polymers,butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers, polychloroprene, mixturesof any ofthe aforegoing and infact, any material which is spongy and resilient incharacter. I

In the manufacture of most sponges, soaps or other materials are used inthe compounding which arenot desirable int-he sponge after for- It ishighly desirable in. this case to remove these undesirable solublematerials from the sponge so that the sponge is clean, and free from anymaterial 3 Claims (01. rag-Jim 11% wringers in series and are. extremelyexpensive and require large: installations of equipment and machinery.The present apparatus is directed to. a facile solution of the problemwherein thesponge is Washedproperly in a continuous manner and whereinthe equipment is inexpensive, compact and readily set up.

.Referringparticularly to Fig. 1, a tank 20 is shown which preferablyincludes three compartments 22, 241and 26. separated by walls 28 and Thewalls 28 and 30 have apertures 32 and ttitherein respectively. The endsof the tank,

asshown at 35, 38, also have apertures therein, namely 40. and 42. Anendless conveyor belt 44 is provided which is preferably perforated or 3made of permeable material and passes through the apertures 42, 34, 32and and around rollers or cogs 46 and 48. which may be used to powerthe, device through attachment with a suitable motor. The belt 44 alsopasses between three similar pairs of perforated plates 50 and 52. Theplates. 52 are maintained inposition within thetank 20 on standards 54while the plates 50 are attached to suitable reciprocating mechanisms 56which may be driven by any suitable jmeans such as a motor attached to acam, hy-

which may have a deleterious effect thereon over 7 draulically operatedcylinders and the like.

Water is supplied to the tank 20 through an inlet GU and is drawn onthrough an outlet 62. The outlet 62 preferably includes a pump, not

shown. Thus, water flows into the first compartment 22 through theaperture 32 into compartment 24 through aperture. into compartmerit, 26and thence through outlet 62 to the waste. Sponge articles 65 areprogressively fed upon the belt 44 and are moved into the tank thereby.The belt driving device is so adjusted that as a sponge article reachesthe position shown in tank 26, the belt stops for a predetermined periodof time whereupon the reciprocating device 56 operates to alternatelysqueeze and release the sponge under water and between plates 56 and 52.After a predetermined time of reciprocation, the plates 50 aremaintained raised in position and the belt moves a distance sufficientto bring. said spongy article under the second reciprocating device,while moving another article into the first position, etc. Thediagrammatic showing of a means for intermittently moving the conveyoris shown in connection with the roller 48, which roller is connected toa gear 49 which is engageable with a second gear 5|. The gear 5| isdriven by the motor. It will be noted that gear 5| only in- ,cludesteeth on a portion of its periphery. The

' ting up the apparatus.

of the teeth on gear 5! being regulated so as to move the conveyor beltonly and to the desired distance'between washing stations and to permitthe conveyor belt to remain stationary at each washing station a desiredperiod. It is apparent that any other suitable means may be used forthis purpose, such as, slip clutches, intermittent-1y operated clutchesor electrically operated magnetic clutches and the like, the mechanismshown being one of the many Ways of accomplishing the movement desired.y

In this manner, each spongy article is washed through alternatecompression and release three times in progressively cleaner water,since the water in tank 22 is fresh water while the water in tank '25has the highest concentration of soluble ingredients therein. It isapparent that if more complete washing is desired, four or five or anynumber of tanks may be used wherein theflow of water is countercurrentto the washing operation.

After the sponge article passes the final station, it emerges from thewash tank and passes between a pair of pressure rollers wherein it issqueezed to remove excess water which runs back into the tank.

, Fig. 2 shows the design of the tank at the inlet and outlet thereofwhere a pair of rollers H! are used on each side of the belt M'to permitupward bending of the belt M. that the apparatus, as shown in theinvention, is simple toconstruct and operate and provides a continuousequipment for washing sponge articles. .In all cases, thealternate'squeezing and releasing of the article may be carried out atdifferent rates of. reciprocation in order. to obtain the best resultscompatible with the thickness of the article being washed. Preferably,we prefer to squeeze the article and release the same at a rate varyingfrom ten to forty times a minute, although this figure is in no waylimiting since it is apparent that on very thick ar- It is apparentticles, the rate may have to be slower for satisfactory operation and onvery thin articles it may be desirable to even use a more rapidreciprocation. Another controlling factor of this rate is the porosityor 'sponginess of the article. Coarse sponges are more adapted to rapidreciprocation than are fine, small pored sponges and all of thesefactors must be considered when set- In any event, the squeezing rate isnot of any great importance provided effective washing is obtained andfor this reason, it is best to arrive at said rate by trial for aspecific article or articles to be washed. Obviously, fewer articles canbe washed in a given apparatus at a slow rate than at a fast rate andtherefore; it is apparent that the faster the rate, the more productivethe apparatus will be, but'again, this rate is governed to some extentby thickness, pore size and the like. 7

It is alsowithin the scope of this invention to utilize a single, tankit as shown in Fig; 5 with no partitions, providing the fiow of washingfluid is sufficiently fast to carry off the soluble ingredients andthereby permit satisfactory washing. The use of the partitions in thepreferred embodiment is to maintain segregated bodies of washing fluidhaving progressively greater quantities of the soluble ingredientstherein, but it is manifest that if the flow of fluid is suflicientlygreat, these partitions are unnecessary. Obvious1y, the greater theflow, the more fluid is required and therefore eco- 4 nomics enter intothe specific design. It is further apparent that the pressure devices orplattens may be reversed sothatthe bottom platten 12 reciprocateswhilethe upper platten is stationary or both plattens 72 and 14 mayreciprocate. Any of these modifications are clearly within the scope ofthe invention.

Fig. 3 shows a modification of the belt design wherein two belts 44 and45 are used which are disposed above and below the article to be washed.The belts are synchronized in movement and maintain the articles inposition. In all embodiments, that is, either the single-belt or thetwo-belt type, the spongy articles may be secured to the belt to preventdisplacement by any suitablemeans, one of which is shown in Fig. 4 at51, where a spring clip is secured to the belt under which a portion ofthe spongy article may be held and which is automatically released asthe clip goes around the final roller. In most cases, securing means areunnecessary although, with very low density sponges, it may 'beadvantageous to provide such expedients.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein dis-closed,constitute, preferred forms, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted.

' What is claimed is as follows:

1. A machine for washing spongy resilient articles, comprising incombination; at least three interconnected tanks adapted to contain awashing fluid, an endless conveyor passing through said tanks anddisposed beneath the level .of said fluid, a pair of perforated plattensdisposed in each tank beneath the level of the fluid and on either sideof said conveyor, one of each of said pairs of plattens being stationaryand the other being adapted for reciprocation toward and away from thefirst mentioned platten, means for intermittently advancing the conveyorto position the articles between oppositely disposed plattens andsubsequently move the articles away therefrom whereby articles on saidconveyor and between said plattens may be alternately compressed andreleased by said reciprocating platten, and means for causing a flow ofthe fluid in said tanks in a direction countercurrent to the directionof movement of said conveyor.

2. A machine for washing spongy resilient articles, comprising incombination; a tank adapted to contain a washing fluid, aconveyorpassing through said tank and disposed so that at least a portionthereof is beneath the surface of said fluid, a pair of perforatedplattens disposed on either side of said conveyor at the point wheresaid conveyor is beneath the fluid, means for intermittently advancingthe conveyor to position the articles between oppositely disposedplattens and subsequently move the articles away therefrom and means formoving at least one of said plattens toward and away from the otherplatten whereby articles on said conveyor and between said plattens arealternately compressed and released beneath said fluid.

3. A machine for washing spongy resilient articles, comprising incombination; a tank adapted to contain a washing fluid, a conveyorpassing through said tank, a plurality of perforated pairs of plattenswithin said tank positioned so that the conveyor passes between eachpair of plattens, means for moving the conveyor through the tank and forintermittently stopping the conveyor periodically so that the spongyarticles thereon are stopped between rer 6 lated pairs of platt'ens, andmeans for causing UNITED STATES PATENTS each pair of plattens to moverelatively to one Number m Date another reciprocally for alternatelysqueezing 419 932 Ernst Jam 21 1890 and releasing an articletherebetween, the said 1 071'o22 'i" I": 1913 last means being effectiveeach time the said 5 1:447'017 Fleming F 27:1923 first means stops theconveyor. M 23092950 Nai Aug 6, 1940 JOHN MARVIN- 2,239,636 Weiss Apr.22, 1941 GEORGE H. MCFADDEN. V

REFERENCES CITED T 10 The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

